In short, this is a very appealing release for fans of contemporary music, and another important addition to the ever-growing repertoire of fine Finnish composers in the Ondine catalog.David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com, 11 July 2011, Artistic Quality 9 / Sound Quality 9Vie is a new work, from 2007, structured as a concerto for orchestra. This is Tiensuu at his best: pithy, virtuosic, surprising, and expressive.Peter Burwasser, Fanfare Magazine, 11 June 2011Kari Kriikku and John Storgårds - who premiered the work in Glasgow - provide a vivid account. Guy Rickards, Gramophone, April 2011

Missa (...) certainly gives Kriikku the chance to display all his tricks, from multiphonics to multi-tonguing, and from one extreme of register to the other, with quarter tones thrown in along the way. (...) Vie (...) generates some very striking textures within a formal scheme that manages to be both satisfying and quietly unconventional at the same time.Andrew Clements, The Guardian, 25 November 2010

This CD features Finland's star clarinetist Kari Kriikku with the première recording of Jukka Tiensuu's second clarinet concerto Missa, written for him in 2007. Also included are the orchestral pieces Vie (2007) and False Memories I-III (2008) by the same composer.

Jukka Tiensuu is regarded as one of the most fascinating Finnish living composer along with Einojuhani Rautavaara, Kaija Saariaho, and Magnus Lindberg. His first clarinet concerto Puro, written for Kari Kriikku in 1989, has since known a phenomenal success, with fifty acclaimed performances around the globe.

Kari Kriikku, the muse to a number of Finland's high profile composers, has previously made acclaimed recordings of clarinet concertos by Magnus Lindberg (2006 BBC Music Magazine Award & Classic FM Gramophone Award; ODE 1038-2), Kimmo Hakola (ODE 1063-2), and Jouni Kaipainen, in addition to Jukka Tiensuu's Puro (ODE 778-2). Upon the world premiere of Missa in Glasgow on May 4, 2007, The Scotsman wrote, "Kari Kriikku was the solitary star. His ability to get effects out of his instrument was clearly the inspiration behind Tiensuu's concerto."

The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra is led on this disc by their chief conductor John Storgårds, who has made several award-winning recordings of contemporary music.